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Key Events in African History A Reference Guide

Toyin Falola

ISBN: 0-313-36122-3

ISBN-13: 978-0-313-36122-7

DOI:

376 pages

Greenwood Press

Publication: 10/30/2008

List Price: $25.00 (UK Sterling Price: £17.95)

Availability: Print on demand

Media Type: Paperback

Also Available: Hardcover

Trim Size: 6 1/8 x 9 1/4

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Description: This reference guide to African history provides substantive entries on 36 watershed events that shaped the history of the continent from the prehistoric past to the dawn of the 21st century. Noted African scholar Toyin Falola clearly and articulately chronicles the growth and change of the continent from the agricultural revolution through colonial rule to African independence and the end of apartheid, examining the powerful moments at which Africa became drawn into the global world. Each entry appears in chronological order and consists of a comprehensive essay on the event, its historical, social, and geographic context, and its long-term significance. Many illustrations and maps provide valuable visual tools for the reader. Each entry concludes with suggestions for further reading. A narrative introduction to the history of the continent and a timeline of events place the events in historical and global context.

Based on the latest scholarship, this reference work analyzes the major events in African history and their ramifications, and draws connections between the past and the present. Key themes recur throughout: the development of diverse African cultures, Arab and European incursions and influence, and the efforts of African peoples to gain independence in the 20th century. Among the events recounted are the Iron Age, the rise of the Kush, the spread of Islam, the 19th-century outbreak of Islamic Jihad, the Atlantic slave trade, European conquest and the African response, Pan-Africanism, the women's decade of 1965-1975, and environmental and political challenges of the last years of the 20th century. Well written and objective, this work is an essential reference tool for students and an excellent complement to the study of African history.

Table of Contents:

Preface
Timeline of Historical Events
The Ancient and Precolonial Period
Africa: An Overview
The Prehistoric Past: The Evolution of Homo Sapiens Sapiens, 40,000 B.C.
The Agricultural Revolution, 5000 B.C.+
The Civilization of Ancient Egypt, 3100 B.C.+
The Iron Age and the Spread of Bantu Speakers, 730 B.C.+
The Rise of Kush and Aksum, 730 B.C.+
The Greeks and Romans in North Africa, 332 B.C.+
Ethiopia: The Emergence of a Christian Kingdom, 1250 A.D.+
The Spread of Islam, 622 A.D. Onward
Kingdoms of West Africa: Ghana, Mali, and Songhay, A.D. 1000-1600
The Rise of the Swahili City-States of East Africa, Tenth-Fourteenth Century A.D.
The Atlantic Slave Trade, 1440-1870
The Organization of Societies, Fifteenth Century A.D. Onward
The Nineteenth-Century Period
The Outbreak of Islamic Jihad, 1804
Wars and Revolution Among the Yoruba, 1817-93
The Spread of Christianity, 1804 Onward
The Rise of Muhammad Ali of Egypt, 1811-47
The Mfecane: Shaka and the Zulu Kingdom, 1816-40
European Conquest and African Response, 1885-1900
The Twentieth-Century Period
The Colonial Experience, 1900-39
The Entrenchment of Apartheid in South Africa, 1948
Africa Drawn into the Second World War, 1940-45
The End of European Rule, 1951-90
Violence to Gain National Liberation, 1952-62
Confrontation with the Gains and Pains if Independence, 1958-70
The Formation of the Organization of African Unity, 1963
Coups, Counter Coups, and Military Regimes, 1963 Onward
Ufamaa and Policy Choices, 1967 Onward
The Creation of the Economic Community of West African States, 1975
Portuguese Colonies Attain Freedom, 1975
Cultural Revival and Cultural Inventory: The Second World Festival of African Arts and Culture, 1977
The Women's Decade, 1975-85
A Continent in Deep Crisis, 1980+
Environmental Challenges, 1980 Onward
African Refugees, 1980 Onward
Africa in World Politics in Transition, 1980s Onward
The Fall of Apartheid and the Advent of Nelson Mandela's Government, 1994-99
Index

About the Author: Toyin Falola is the Frances Higginbothom Nalle Centennial Professor in History at the University of Texas, Austin. A distinguished Africanist, Falola serves on the editorial board of many journals, co-edits the Journal of African Economic History, and serves as the series editor of the University of Rochester's Studies in African History and the Diaspora. He is also series editor of the Greenwood Press series Culture and Customs of Africa. His publications include many essays and books on Nigeria, including Decolonization and Development Planning (1996), Violence in Nigeria: The Crisis of Religious Politics and Secular Ideologies (1998), and The History of Nigeria (Greenwood, 1999).

LCC Class: 960


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